Extractor for piano-hammers



B. J. STARKS.

EXTRACTOR FOR PIANO HAMMERS. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 28, 1920.

1,365,559. Patented Jan. 11,1921.-

moknm BERNARD JAMES STAR-KS, OF EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN.

' .EXTRACTOR ron PIANO-HAMMERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 11, 1921.

Application filed January 28, 1920. Serial No. 354,696.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BERNARD JAMns S'rAnirs, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Eau Claire, in thecounty of Eau Claire and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new andImproved Extractor for Piano-Hammers, of which the following is adescription.

My invention relates to a device for use in connection with the hammerof a piano action and has for its general object to provide an efiicientand convenient device or" the indicated character arranged to readilyoperate upon the head, the butt, or the back stop of the hammer.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a device for theindicated purpose which may be quickly applied to the hammer in a mannertightly clamping the shank from which the hammer head or other 1 memberis to be removed, as well as a manually operable device coiirdinatedwith the clamp means and adapted to exert an elfective pull on thehammerhead or other memher to be removed.

The nature of the invention and the advantages will more clearly appearfrom the specific description and claims hereinafter given.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forinin a part ofthis specification, it being understood that the drawings are merelyillustrative of one example of the invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an extractor embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a front view thereof, showing the same adjusted to the shankof the ham mer for removing either the hammer head or butt;

Fig. is a side elevation showing the device adjusted for removing theback stop.

In carrying out my invention a frame or body 10 is provided, here shownas in the form of an elongated bar which at its for ward end is slottedlongitudinally as at 11 and formed with lateral jaws 12, the slot 11between the jaws being widened at its outer ends as at 13 to accommodatethe shank A of the piano hammer or like article to be acted upon. Saidclamp jaws are provided with a transverse clamp screw 14.

On the face of the body 10 is a slide 15 which advantageously may be inthe form of a bar as shown, said slide 15 being adapted to be actuatedby a screw 16, having a suitable head or handle 16 Said screw extendsthrough a threaded hole in the laterally disposed rear end 17 of thebody 10. The forward end of said screw is swiveled to a lateral lug 18on the rear end of the slide 15 and parallel or approximately so withthe end 17 of the body. The forward end of theslide 15 is in the form ofa lateral lug 19 having a longitudinal slot 20 therein registering withthe end 13 of slot 11. Thus, the body 10 and slide 15 in the illustratedexample are generally of U-shape, the jaws l2 and end 17 of said bodybeing disposed at the same side of the body and the lugs 18, 19 of theslide 15 being disposed appro:-:imately parallel with and at the sameside of the body as said jaws 13 and end 17. The relative sizes of thebody and slide afford clearance for the relative movement of said slide.

With the described construction in order to remove the head B of a pianohammer for example the shank A of the hammer is placed in theregistering slots 13, 20 with the hammer lying in the rear of andagainst the shoulder presented. by the rear, side of the lug 19 of theslide 15, (see Fig. 2). The screw 14 is tightened to cause the jaws 12-to tightly clamp the shank and prevent longitudinal movement thereof andthe screw 16 is now operated to draw the slide 15 rearwardly, therebycausing the lug 19 to exert a rearward pull directly against the hammer.0 remove the same from the shank. In order to'extract the back stop Cof the hammer from its stem or laterally disposed auxiliary shank B,said stem is placed in the slots 13 and 20, the same as described withrespect to the shank A with the back stop C in the rear of the lug 19 sothat thescrew 16 may be operated to cause the rearward movement of theslide 15 for the removal of said back stop. Obviously, the butt D of thehammer can be removed'in the same way as the head B is removed, byplacing the shank A in the registering slots 13, 20 and with said buttdisposed at the rear side of the lug 19.

The tool is useful also for holding the hammer in the gluing of thehead, backstop, or butt.

To increase the gripping action of the jaws for more elfectivelyanchoring the engaged shank, the inner faces of the jaws in practice areprovided with transverse corrugations 21 or an equivalent formation, tolie across and engage the inserted shank.

The described device is advantageous in the facility with which it maybe applied to the hammer, andthe readiness with which the engaged shankis tightly clamped and the part to be removed effectively engaged andacted upon.

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated exampleconstitutes a practical embodiment of my invention, 1 do not limitmyself strictly to the mechanical details herein illustrated, sincemanifestly the same can be considerably varied without departure fromthe spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

1. A device of the class described including a body having clamp jawsthereon presenting a slot therebetween disposed longitudinally of thebody, a slide on said body presenting longitudinal slot registering withthe firstmentioned slot, whereby said slots may jointly accommodate theshank of a piano hammer or the like, disposed longitudinally of thedevice, said slide presenting a rearwardly disposed shoulder at the backof said second-mentioned slot for engagement with a hammer head or likemember to be removed, and means to cause a rearward movement of saidslide.

2. A device for removing parts of piano hammers or like members, carriedby a shank, said device including a body having at the forward endlaterally disposed clamp jaws presenting a slot therebetween, a clampscrew for tightening and loosening said jaws, and a slide movablelongitudinally of said body and presenting a lug in the rear of saidjaws, said lug presenting a transverse slot registering with the firstslot so that the shank may be accommodated therein and the member to beremoved accommodated in the rear of said lug; together with means toexert a rearward pull on said slide for removing the engaged member.

A device of the class described including an elongated body slotted atits front end to form clamp jaws, the slot being widened between saidjaws, a clamp screw extending through said jaws, a slide on said bodyand movable longitudinally between the ends thereof, said slidepresenting lateral spaced lugs thereon at one side, the forward lugbeing slotted longitudinally of the slide so that its slotreg'isterswith the slot between the clamps, and a screw extending through andhaving threaded engagement with the rear end of said body and swiveledto the rear lug of said slide.

a. A device of the class described including a body having laterallydisposed members thereon at the front end, presenting a slottherebetween and a slide disposed longitudinally of the body andpresenting a laterally offset front end disposed directly behind saidmembers of the body and presenting a slot longitudinally of the slideand in register with the first-mentioned slot, the rear side of saidlaterally oiii'set front end of the slide presenting a rearwardly facingshoulder, and means to cause longitudinal movement of the sliderelatively to the body.

BERNARD JAMES STARKS.

